Mugabe laces God-talk with venom and threats
-28/06/06
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mu
Mugabe laces God-talk with venom and threats
-28/06/06
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has joined in prayers for divine intervention to turn around his country’s devastated economy where he also warned clerics against meddling in politics saying they faced a “vicious” response from his government ñ reports Ecumenical News Internationalís Harare correspondent.
“We cannot do without each other as the Church and State,” Mugabe said in a speech to thousands of people gathered at a stadium outside Harare on 25 June 2006 for a national day of prayer.
“Let the church come in and point out where there are shortcomings, sins of commission or omission,” said Mugabe, while also launching what was seen as an attack on Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube, one of the Zimbabwean president’s most critical opponents.
“The bishop is not dearer to God than the president,” said Mugabe. “When the church leaders start being political, we regard them as political creatures and we are vicious in that area.”
The day of prayer divided churches in Zimbabwe with Ncube reported to have called a boycott of it saying that praying with Mugabe was a betrayal of those who were suffering because of his policies.
In recent weeks, Mugabe has urged closer co-operation between the church and state to resolve the problems affecting the country, while also castigating clerics critical of his rule.
Ncube had rebuked church leaders who held talks with Mugabe in May in what was presented as an attempt to find solutions to Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis.
“The reason why you see some church leaders singing the government’s praises is because they have already been bought,” Ncube was quoted as saying by the independent Standard newspaper after the delegation of 12 church leaders drawn mainly from the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) met Mugabe on 25 May 2006.
“Some of our church leaders have been given farms and money by the ruling party and government to campaign for them,” Ncube said.
ZCC president Bishop Peter Nemapare and general secretary Densen Mafinyani praised Mugabe for granting them an audience. Zimbabwe is facing an economic crisis with inflation above 1,000 per cent and the majority of the population is living in extreme poverty.
Mafinyani told Ecumenical News International the church leaders were entering into dialogue with Mugabe because he was the person in charge.
“Whether he stole votes in previous elections as widely stated is immaterial,” Mafinyani said. “We have been meeting him because he is the man in charge at the moment.”
Report with acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.
Ekklesia adds: Robert Mugabeís ruling party in Zimbabwe cancelled the annual National Day of Prayer, held annually on 25 May, and replaced it with a ìmore patrioticî Zimbabwe Day of Prayer to be marked on 25 June ñ according The Standard newspaper.
The Zimbabwean authorities said that there was nothing sinister about the change, and that it was purely an ìadministrative developmentî.
But critics say that Mr Mugabe is using religious commitment and fervour to entrench his authoritarian regime.
The new ëday of prayerí was proposed after pro-Zanu PF church leaders agreed to a proposal from the ruling party’s commissariat and information departments recently, claimed the newspaper.
Churches and church leaders in the impoverished country are bitterly divided in their response to the government, with Archbishop Ncube and others accusing some clerics of corruption and collusion with massive human rights abuses.
[Also on Ekklesia: Mugabe accused of using prayer event to entrench oppressive rule 20/06/06; Pro-Mugabe Anglican bishop faces suspension 15/06/06; Zimbabwe church leaders debate how to handle Mugabe; Church leaders condemn Mugabe clampdown; WCC condemns Mugabe’s forced evictions; Rebel prelate condemns ‘corrupt’ church collusion with Mugabe; Zimbabwean police ban church parades and prayer vigils; Bishop calls for cricket boycott; Southern Africa remains gripped by food crisis says Christian Aid; Mugabe bureaucracy blocks vital church aid to destitute; Mugabe branded ‘shameless’ over attempt to gatecrash Pope’s funeral]
Mugabe laces God-talk with venom and threats
-28/06/06
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has joined in prayers for divine intervention to turn around his country’s devastated economy where he also warned clerics against meddling in politics saying they faced a “vicious” response from his government ñ reports Ecumenical News Internationalís Harare correspondent.
“We cannot do without each other as the Church and State,” Mugabe said in a speech to thousands of people gathered at a stadium outside Harare on 25 June 2006 for a national day of prayer.
“Let the church come in and point out where there are shortcomings, sins of commission or omission,” said Mugabe, while also launching what was seen as an attack on Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube, one of the Zimbabwean president’s most critical opponents.
“The bishop is not dearer to God than the president,” said Mugabe. “When the church leaders start being political, we regard them as political creatures and we are vicious in that area.”
The day of prayer divided churches in Zimbabwe with Ncube reported to have called a boycott of it saying that praying with Mugabe was a betrayal of those who were suffering because of his policies.
In recent weeks, Mugabe has urged closer co-operation between the church and state to resolve the problems affecting the country, while also castigating clerics critical of his rule.
Ncube had rebuked church leaders who held talks with Mugabe in May in what was presented as an attempt to find solutions to Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis.
“The reason why you see some church leaders singing the government’s praises is because they have already been bought,” Ncube was quoted as saying by the independent Standard newspaper after the delegation of 12 church leaders drawn mainly from the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) met Mugabe on 25 May 2006.
“Some of our church leaders have been given farms and money by the ruling party and government to campaign for them,” Ncube said.
ZCC president Bishop Peter Nemapare and general secretary Densen Mafinyani praised Mugabe for granting them an audience. Zimbabwe is facing an economic crisis with inflation above 1,000 per cent and the majority of the population is living in extreme poverty.
Mafinyani told Ecumenical News International the church leaders were entering into dialogue with Mugabe because he was the person in charge.
“Whether he stole votes in previous elections as widely stated is immaterial,” Mafinyani said. “We have been meeting him because he is the man in charge at the moment.”
Report with acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.
Ekklesia adds: Robert Mugabeís ruling party in Zimbabwe cancelled the annual National Day of Prayer, held annually on 25 May, and replaced it with a ìmore patrioticî Zimbabwe Day of Prayer to be marked on 25 June ñ according The Standard newspaper.
The Zimbabwean authorities said that there was nothing sinister about the change, and that it was purely an ìadministrative developmentî.
But critics say that Mr Mugabe is using religious commitment and fervour to entrench his authoritarian regime.
The new ëday of prayerí was proposed after pro-Zanu PF church leaders agreed to a proposal from the ruling party’s commissariat and information departments recently, claimed the newspaper.
Churches and church leaders in the impoverished country are bitterly divided in their response to the government, with Archbishop Ncube and others accusing some clerics of corruption and collusion with massive human rights abuses.
[Also on Ekklesia: Mugabe accused of using prayer event to entrench oppressive rule 20/06/06; Pro-Mugabe Anglican bishop faces suspension 15/06/06; Zimbabwe church leaders debate how to handle Mugabe; Church leaders condemn Mugabe clampdown; WCC condemns Mugabe’s forced evictions; Rebel prelate condemns ‘corrupt’ church collusion with Mugabe; Zimbabwean police ban church parades and prayer vigils; Bishop calls for cricket boycott; Southern Africa remains gripped by food crisis says Christian Aid; Mugabe bureaucracy blocks vital church aid to destitute; Mugabe branded ‘shameless’ over attempt to gatecrash Pope’s funeral]